If you were wondering how Oklahoma State would fare without sophomore guard Marcus Smart, who began serving his three-game suspension on Tuesday night in Austin, that was answered quickly when Javan Felix scored eight straight Texas points to stretch the lead to 22 with eight minutes to play in the first half.

The Longhorns would cruise to an 87-68 win over the shorthanded Cowboys. And it’s not like Texas was at full strength. Jonathan Holmes missed Tuesday’s game with a knee injury.

Felix scored a game-high 27 points including six 3-pointers. Cameron Ridley controlled the paint with 12 points and 13 boards. Le’Bryan Nash and Markel Brown — the two who need to step up in Smart’s absence — combined for 41 points, though Brown shot 4-of-14 (1-of-6 from three) on the night.

Without Smart running the offense, Oklahoma State shot 36 percent from the field. Instead the offense resulted in bad shots, and turnovers — 10 turnovers to six assists.

No. 19 Texas gets back in the win column after having its seven-game win streak snapped at Kansas State on Feb. 8. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, has dropped five straight, and the next two games will be just as difficult without Smart.

The Pokes have Oklahoma at home on Saturday then a road game with a Baylor team that is need of conference wins as well next Monday. If both of those games go like Tuesday’s blowout loss, Oklahoma State will sit 4-9 in conference by the time Smart returns for a rematch with Texas Tech.

On Selection Sunday, the committee will likely overlook this three-game slate. When the Cowboys get Smart back in the lineup, they’ll still have chances to bolster its resume in the beginning of March before the Big 12 tournament with games against No. 7 Kansas and on the road at Iowa State remaining on their schedule.

The Cowboys are reeling, and that slump began with Smart in the lineup. They’ll need him to figure it out during this week-long suspension because without the Marcus Smart who was a preseason All-American, Oklahoma State is in real trouble.

His suspension should have consisted of not starting the game at Texas… then coming off the bench 30 seconds into the game. Instead some jerk-off fan (Jeff Orr) will spend the rest of the year bragging about how he got into Smart’s head and got him suspended. 3 games? Way too much. And, no, I’m not an Oklahoma State fan.